Fedora Workstation 45: what the desktop brings, and how it differs from Atomic

Fedora Workstation is Fedora’s flagship desktop variant. In 45 the changes that matter most to desktop users concentrate in three places: desktop environment versions, the secret service implementation, and how applications are distributed.

What you see after boot

The first screen once the F45 Workstation Live medium finishes booting. This dialog only exists on the Live media; an installed system does not show it:

Dismiss it and you get the plain desktop. F45’s default wallpaper is the copper-gold gear assembly:

The top-left Activities entry opens the overview, where windows and workspaces live:

The app grid — roughly the default preinstalled set on F45 Workstation:

Several things are readable from the grid: Terminal and Text Editor ship by default; LibreOffice appears three times (Writer/Calc/Impress); Boxes is preinstalled, so the virtualisation client is still there; no IDE is bundled.

Desktop component versions

These versions come from package queries against the F45 repositories and can be checked line by line:

dnf list --available gnome-shell mutter gnome-software plasma-desktop

gnome-shell.x86_64     51.0-1.fc45   fedora
mutter.x86_64          51.0-1.fc45   fedora
gnome-software.x86_64  51.0-1.fc45   fedora
plasma-desktop.x86_64  6.7.5-1.fc45  fedora

Desktop	Versions	Variant
GNOME	gnome-shell 51.0, mutter 51.0	Workstation itself
KDE Plasma	plasma-desktop 6.7.5	Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop
Secret service	oo7 0.7.0~beta	shared by both

Note

KDE users take the Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop variant, not Workstation with KDE added. The install media and default package sets differ.

How it differs from Cloud and Server

Same F45, different install path, completely different result:

Item	Workstation	Server	Cloud
Desktop session	yes (GNOME)	no	no
Secret service	oo7 runs with the session	installed but idle	same as Server
toolbox	install manually	install manually	install manually
flatpak	preinstalled, Flathub configured	absent	absent
Console	kmscon may take over	hardware dependent	local VT rarely used

These are not “lite” versus “full” but different default package sets. Installing desktop components on Server does not give you a session.

Upgrading from 44

Workstation users can take the graphical route; no commands to memorise:

1. bring 44 fully up to date first (GNOME Software → Updates);
2. open the upgrade entry and follow the prompts through download and reboot;
3. back up and read the Release Notes before starting.

Command-line users can use the same dnf system-upgrade; steps are in upgrading to Fedora 45.

Caution

On the first login after upgrading, verify the secret service: open a passwords-and-keys tool and check entries are readable. F45 changed the implementation, and this matters more than how the desktop looks.

Three things to verify after upgrading

gnome-shell --version
rpm -q oo7-daemon gnome-keyring
flatpak remotes

GNOME Shell 51.0
oo7-daemon-0.7.0~beta-2.fc45.x86_64
package gnome-keyring is not installed
flathub  system

• desktop version: gnome-shell --version should report 51.x;
• secret service: gnome-keyring being absent is expected — see oo7 in F45;
• application source: flathub should be listed, otherwise the desktop cannot find applications.

Workstation or Atomic desktop

	Workstation	Atomic (Silverblue / Kinoite)
System updates	per-package	whole-image replacement plus rollback
Installing dev tools	dnf install directly	into a Toolbx container
Switching desktop	reinstall another variant	rpm-ostree rebase
Suits	frequent system changes, driver installs	a clean host with a containerised workflow

Both are official variants and neither is more “proper”. The test is which maintenance model you can live with, not which one updates.

Evidence boundary

The component versions on this page come from package queries against the F45 repositories and can be checked item by item; the oo7 D-Bus takeover was measured on F45. The desktop session itself — GNOME 51’s new interface, first-run Flatpak experience, suspend and graphics — was not tested end to end, because the lab has no Workstation media.

Related pages

• oo7 in Fedora 45: the desktop secret service — the implementation swap
• Install Fedora (Workstation / Server) — install flow and media
• Atomic desktops and immutable systems — the other desktop route
• Desktop application distribution (Flatpak) — application sources and permissions
• Upgrading to Fedora 45 — version-specific steps
• Official: Fedora Workstation